Power Stations - Are They Worth It?

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I’m thinking of purchasing a small power station (Jackery/Goal Zero…) to power my Engel refrigerator and as a backup for power outages here at the Fort. The Engel could be used under the canopy in the back of either truck, or in the ATC Cougar.

What do you think, is it worth it? Alternatives? Recommendations?

 

[pods8]

I think it depends on capacity needs and what model you're looking at with sales involved and whether DIY is something you'd consider.

Caveat: I'm assuming Jackery are quality items, I honestly have no clue. Just glancing at the jackery explorer 1000, there is no way I'd pay $1000 for it because the value isn't there compared to component costs. BUT its onsale for $600 right now which changes the dynamic and makes something turn key easier to buy (assuming it works).

 

[AWG_Pics]

Mine was stolen in a truck break-in a year and a half ago. Never bothered to replace it. Your needs may be greater than mine turned out to be.

 

[PaulT]

How many watts of AC (I assume) do you need for that fridge? If 300 watts or less, why not just get a pure sine wave inverter like this Giandel? Run it off your camper, truck, or extra battery for your current purposes.
You can use it for your camera battery recharges, also.

I, recently, bought the linked Giandel for those purposes because I could recharge devices easily from my ham radio batteries & not spend a lot. I couldn't run Vic's induction cooktop but as I don't have such an awesome cooktop anyway...

If I decide I want such a cooktop, I could always spend more money later and buy a power station.

Paul

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Paul, the Engel can run on either AC or DC. I would probably just us DC, unless on shore power.

 

[j_f]

I think it depends on capacity needs and what model you're looking at with sales involved and whether DIY is something you'd consider.

Caveat: I'm assuming Jackery are quality items, I honestly have no clue. Just glancing at the jackery explorer 1000, there is no way I'd pay $1000 for it because the value isn't there compared to component costs. BUT its onsale for $600 right now which changes the dynamic and makes something turn key easier to buy (assuming it works).

I’m shopping now and reached the same conclusion, and I think they’ll become even more appealing as the price of the tech drops, they get even smaller/lighter, etc.

 

[Taku]

we had a Goal Zero before we had camper with solar. It worked well but the batteries lasted two years and the solar panel about the same. Goal Zero did replace the battery but not sure I would trust it long term

 

[pods8]

I’m shopping now and reached the same conclusion, and I think they’ll become even more appealing as the price of the tech drops, they get even smaller/lighter, etc.

Its kinda like a few years ago there could be some savings buying lithium cells, BMS, etc. and assembling your own battery. Right now the prices of well built fully assembled batteries has come way down so I couldn't imagine fussing with building something for a normal use case.

These powerboxes too used to be silly overpriced for what they were.

 

[j_f]

I'm tempted to pull the trigger on the Dometic PLB 40 for an ultralight power solution (lights and a fan, charging devices, etc. -- maybe a small fridge) while I continue to build out my setup. It's under $400 on sale right now, which is less than half of what it cost when introduced.

 

[Vic Harder]

Building your own is "better" because you (hopefully) understand all the bits and how they work together. Makes upgrading/repair later easier by far.

 

[oldhotrod]

In my opinion, power stations are convenient but have a very limited use. It is very simple to build your own and the savings would allow for a much larger battery. Note you pay a lot to have the company put the bits in a cute plastic box.